Australia

英 [?'stre?l??] 美[?'strelj?]

CET4CET6常用詞匯

Australia: from Latin Terra Australis (16c.), from australis "southern" + -ia. A hypothetical southern continent, known as terra australis incognita, had been proposed since 2c. Dutch explorers called the newfound continent New Holland; the current name was suggested 1814 by Matthew Flinders as an improvement over Terra Australis "as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the name of the other great portions of the earth" ["Voyage to Terra Australis"]. In 1817 Gov. Lachlan Macquarie, having read Flinders' suggestion, began using it in official correspondence. The ultimate source is Latin auster "south wind," hence, "the south country."

The Latin sense shift in australis, if it is indeed the same word other Indo-European languages use for east (see aurora), for which Latin uses oriens (see orient), perhaps is based on a false assumption about the orientation of the Italian peninsula, "with shift through 'southeast' explained by the diagonal position of the axis of Italy" [Buck]; see Walde, Alois, "Lateinisches etymologisches W?rterbuch," 3rd. ed., vol. 1, p.87; Ernout, Alfred, and Meillet, Alfred, "Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine," 2nd. ed., p.94. Or perhaps the connection is more ancient, and from PIE root *aus- "to shine," source of aurora, which also produces words for "burning," with reference to the "hot" south wind that blows into Italy. Thus auster "(hot) south wind," metaphorically extended to "south."

1. Australia's rugby union side enjoyed a record-breaking win over France.: 澳大利亞的英式橄欖球聯盟隊創紀錄地贏了法國隊。

2. I'vebeen dragged back from Australia for no sufficient reason.: 沒有充分的理由，我就從澳大利亞被硬叫了回來。

4. He decided to do something about reforesting man-made wastes of western Australia.: 他決定為在澳大利亞西部人為導致荒蕪的土地上重新造林做點事情。

5. Blake emigrated to Australia with his family at 13.: 布萊克在13歲時隨家人移民到了澳大利亞。